This is one of those true crimes stories that is hard to hear because of the crime itself, so I’m going to keep it short and to the point because it involves the death of a child.
Why post it at all?
Because justice prevailed and had its day. One reason I write about crimes is because victims who didn’t have their chance to leave a mark on the world should not be forgotten.
I remember reading about this like it was yesterday, and I have thought about it a lot over the years. I’m glad to have a space where I can put this little girl’s name and it won’t ever be forgotten. Her name was Michele Morgan, and she died in August 1961 in O’Fallon, Illinois.
On December 7, 1996, I read an article in The Facts about the arrest of a woman in West Columbia named Rae Morgan. The 56-year-old woman had been living in West Columbia for around eight or ten years. She was active in the community, went to church faithfully, and she was thought of highly by people in her neighborhood. Rae and her husband were, reportedly, doing missionary work, but Rae had been employed by the Clute -based newspaper, The Facts, for several years before her time doing service work, and the newspaper was happy with her. Her supervisor there could not believe that law enforcement had the right woman.
Michele Morgan
I also remember someone saying to me Rae Morgan should be left alone to go about her life. It had been 35 years since the crime happened when it caught up with her. I just shrugged and wondered if that person had a crime hanging in his life he worried might catch up with him.
The murder investigation developed in Illinois at a prison, because an inmate named George Morgan learned how to track his family tree to pass the time. He was serving 45 years for a couple of crimes that he says he didn’t do; and you never know, so I’m just saying it because he said it.
Anyhow, this came about because George was working on his family tree. Keep in mind that this was before Ancestry.com. Developing a family tree by mail and phone calls was torturous. It involved ordering documents from various agencies. George Morgan figured out how to order death certificates and decided to order his sister’s. He said he didn’t know why, but I suspect he knew exactly how his little sister died back in 1961 when he was eight, and she was six, but he had been gaslighted about it his whole life, and he knew better.
When he received the death certificate, it said she died of natural causes.
That was false. He called the funeral home and told them his little sister was murdered and that he saw it. The funeral home called the sheriff, and he looked into the case. Sure enough, the little girl’s body was full of suspicious injuries. The child’s father was in U.S. Army and away on base during the day. Little Michele Morgan was in the care of her stepmother and those two, the six-year-old girl and the 21-year-old stepmother, clashed like gasoline and water.
In fairness, if there is such a thing for this kind of behavior, the 21-year-old mother had George, Michele, a one-year-old baby, and twins on the way when this happened.
It was horrifying. George saw his stepmother, Rae Morgan, hold the child under water and threatened to drown her in an attempt at trying to get her to admit she had been lying about something minor. The woman stomped her, and she did other brutal things to the child, but I don’t need to itemize it. You can imagine.
After the last incident, Morgan told the hospital she had fallen off a woodpile, and they put in “natural causes.” What six-year-old has “natural causes” on their death certificate? Sounds like someone didn’t want to look into it.
The Army had investigated the death and reported it was a case of abuse; they noted the little girl had been the military hospital two dozen times before she finally died, but nothing came of it. The child was buried in an unmarked grave in O’Fallon, Illinois, where they were living, and life went on like nothing happened. Soon, the family moved away to be stationed elsewhere.
The stepmother was mean to George, as well. But not as bad as her abuse of Michelle.
Authorities found the child’s grave and exhumed her body, which was full of evidence that she had been injured and that she died from forceful abuse similar to a car wreck.
Rae Morgan
Rae Morgan denied all of it. Soon, she was arrested and charged with the child’s murder. Her husband, Michelle and George’s father, said he was foggy on what happened that day. He also said his son was lying to get out of jail. Nothing like that was ever on the table.
Ultimately, Rae Morgan took a plea and was required to serve five years. (No. Not enough, but it was better than never being caught.) Her daughter has given affidavits and depositions, stating that she and her siblings had a stable and happy childhood. Rae Morgan claimed she had no memory of the incident and said to friends she was taking the plea to get it over with.
I left a lot of details out, but if you write crime stories and want the articles I have, I will hand them over. Send me an email: vintagetexascrimes@gmail.com .
Thanks for reading!!
1, Susan Avera Roth, 12/7/1996, Murder Arrest Shocks Community, The Brazosport Facts; Clute, Texas; Pg. 1, https://www.newspapers.com/image/13869023/; Date Collected: 4/12/25.
2, Steve Scheibal, 5/11/99, Morgan Gets Five Years, The Facts; Clute, Texas; Pg. 1, https://www.newspapers.com/image/14126334/; Date Collected: 4/6/25.
3, Roy Malone, 12/7/1996, A Different Kind of Case, St. Louis Post – Disapatch; St. Louis, Missouri; Pg. 1, https://www.newspapers.com/image/141709692/; Date Collected: 4/6/2025.